In the field of fastening devices, staplers are a commonly used device to bind multiple pages of sheet media, such as paper. In addition to staplers being used in office supply situations, they are becoming more prevalent in the craft industry where decorative sheet media are being fastened to one another in an artistic manner.
The office supply versions of staplers can work in this capacity in a utilitarian manner, but they lack the decorative qualities desired in the craft industry. One of the qualities that the craft industry desires is the ability to decorate the face of the staple. Artistic designs or other such information can compliment the art project in which the staples are being used. The narrow utility staples of the office supply industry are insufficient in this respect.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1A–1C, U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,991 demonstrates office supply staples that have been created that provide a platform for including company logos and advertisements. These staples use additional prongs above the standard two prong staple in order to provide support for the indicia platform. However, the prior art does not show a means for using such staples in a craft environment. The craft industry requires not only ease of use and cost effective production, but also requires additional features for enhancing staple placement beyond the normal corner insertion used in a standard office setting and also requires that thicker sheet media and larger numbers of sheet media be fastened to one another.